fragile flowers in empty hands
by sheisthesun
Summary: Stubborn as she was, she was just a wandering cherry blossom that fell from the branches from above—and the hands that were outstretched below her, wanting to catch her, weren't complaining. Multiple/Sakura one-shots.
1. champloo

**_champloo._**

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><p>"I could have handled myself." Turning on his heel, Yamamoto—non-exhausted with not even a bead of sweat being produced—raised his eye brows, sending a curious glance to the pink-haired 14-year-old, who in turn turned her head to the side in a swift movement, crossing her arms over her chest in a childish manner. The tall boy cocked his head to the side, scratching the back of his head; was she mad at him for saving her?<p>

Sakura, despite being an alert and strong hand-to-hand combat fighter, hadn't been aware that a thug had been behind her—she had been busy dodging and punching at the one in front of her that she didn't realize she was about to have her head chopped off by the large hammer in the other's hands. And through the corners of his eyes, he saw...and that really wasn't playing fair.

So he did what he had to do—run in her direction (even _if _his shoes would wear out; it was fine, anyway, he had another pair back in his room), bust out the cool katana his dad gave him, and swung like there was no tomorrow when he was close enough. This action had apparently made him crush a sunflower that was nearby when he had to switch the ends of the blade, tearing the petals off—but who in the world would want to fight in a field of flowers?

It had surprised the dirty-playing thug, and he had taken that opportunity to give a good slice from the shoulder to the hip, effectively defeating him. That was the first strike. And the second one—who was also a cheater and had actually _punched _a girl (which was, in his honest opinion, an abomination; he was raised to treat girls with care because they were fragile yet stubborn, just like his wonderful mom—but she was one of the unfortunate ones who, despite being stubborn and strong-willed, was too fragile, and was taken away unfairly and too early)—was about to deal the finishing blow to his friend, who was still trying to recover from the hard punch she had taken to the stomach, greedily gasping for air.

Now, when _he _was the pitcher, that was bound to be a strike.

So before he could do anything that would hurt her (because he wouldn't lose someone as stubborn and strong-willed as her; not again), he sprinted from his spot and defeated him with the single slice of his katana. He had crumpled to the floor and was unable to do anything else; _guess him and his friend are gonna be benchwarmers for the rest of the inning. _And that was how thing ended up the way they were—with him scratching his head and her not talking to him.

But all in all, he knew she wasn't that mad at him—it took him a while, but in the end, he just smiled, a hearty laugh escaping his lips.

"I know," he said, slinging an arm around the pinkette's shoulders as he beamed at her, "But, I'm just a chivalrous samurai."

She shifted in false arrogance under his arm and turned her head away in an attempt to not look at him—he didn't miss the pink on her features, and nearly laughed once more in happiness. His smile grew brighter; _same old stubborn Sakura. _

Gently grasping her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he slowly turned her head so that she was facing him—the amusement and warmth that emanated from his stomach continued to grow, butterflies fluttering joyfully inside of him at the sight of her cute pout and the blush that laced her pale features. _Yep. She was stubborn, alright. _His eyes traveled down to the flower petals that were still in his grip, uncrushed by the pressure of his hand against the hilt of his katana.

"I may be no Mugen or Jin," he chirped, softly prying her arms out of their crossed state and placing the yellow petals in her hands with his smile never wavering—a few brief moments passed before she blinked, realization dawning onto her pretty features; she laughed softly afterwards, her hands cupping the petals to her body, before he continued, "And you may be no brown-haired girl traveling around."

"But I'll always protect you no matter what." _And that would be his promise. _He gave her a goofy grin, patting her shoulder softly.

At that statement, she rolled her eyes comically, a sigh being heard, but he paid no mind and continued smiling. The butterflies began to flutter again when she shook her head, stood on her toes and placed a sweet and chaste kiss on his cheek, looking up at him with her cheeky grin, "You watch too much anime, Yamamoto."

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><p><em>I know. I started another story, D: but these freaking plot bunnies keep jumping in front of me, taunting me and daring me to try and write them. And I did...well, one of them...BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT. But yeah, I'm almost done with Chapter 7 for Sakura, REBORN! so keep on the look-out for that.<em>

_Back to the main point, this is what it is. As the summary suggested, this will be a fic solely composed of SakuraMultiple probably-unrelated one-shots with the Katekyo Hitman Reborn characters, and the first one was Yamamoto! :D You can make suggestions to what pairing you wanna see next, C: thanks for reading and your support! (Review? :D Or not, aha, xD)_

I do not own Naruto, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or any other animes that I may have mentioned (ie. Mugen, Jin, Fuu, references to Samurai Champloo)—I simply make fanfiction for them.


	2. salvation

**_salvation._**

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><p>Taking a deep breath, Mukuro opened his eyes and relished the feeling of blood splattering onto his pale cheeks—pulling away the tip of his trident from one of his captor's neck, he watched with no empathy whatsoever as the said man's eye rolled to the back of his head, twitching once more before falling to the ground in a limp heap, adding one more to the body count. Slowly casting his gaze amongst the lifeless piles of fresh corpses, his eyes stopped when they spotted a head of bright pink, hidden behind a fallen operation table.<p>

The boy raised an eyebrow in interest, cocking his head to the side before he realized..._he had not been alone_ _in the room. _If he remembered correctly, there was another child that had been held captive in the same room as him—as they had been taking notes on his progress of his new abilities, a few more of the Estraneo members ushered a young girl into the room; she had looked no older than 9 or 10, with a simple sundress and a ribbon that held her short pink-hair back.

They had made eye contact for just a few seconds before she was carried and strapped to the table across from him. Her screams had been the only thing he could hear over all the painful noises of those machines they used.

_Sakura Haruno. _That had been her name—she was the adopted daughter of one of the Estraneo family's researchers, and was willingly offered to the family as a test subject in return for some secret weapons they had been developing. Originally, her hair had been a normal strawberry blonde, but after the first experiment, she came out of the room with hair that was an atrocious shade of bright pink—along her arms were patches of bandages to cover the shots they had injected her with.

He vaguely remembered Tony, one of the other kids, asking her about her hair and all she had done was shake her head, tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, but he wasn't interested in that. There was something else he had in mind.

Stepping closer to the operation table, he bent down, spotting a pair of green eyes from behind—the said eyes immediately disappeared from sight. Looking down at his trident tip, he narrowed his eyes meticulously before settling it down on the ground quietly and hidden from sight (she was probably going to panic; a screaming, crying, and dangerous girl was not what he wanted at the moment) and let a smile creep to his face. "Hey...come out of there."

It wasn't a command, but it was what he wanted—but unfortunately for him, she let out a pained whisper instead of obeying him. His eye twitched; _foolish girl. _Not wanting to waste any more time, he got up from his crouching position and walked closer to the table, leaning over to peek at the girl behind it. But once he did so, the sight was a bit gruesome, as his mismatched eyes widened a fraction.

She sat with her back to the wall, tears cascading down her face, with her body covered in dots of blood. Her hand clutched tightly to the wrist of one of the fallen bodies—_her father, _he had recognized—and had crushed it easily, the muscle tissue and veins being the only thing that kept the whole hand itself from separating from the forearm; it hung limply, suspended above the ground with blood dripping from chipped fingernails. A sniffle broke him from his train of thought and he immediately feigned concern for the girl, "Are you alright?"

"I.." The small pinkette let out a shaky breath before looking up to meet his penetrating gaze, a few more tears escaping the corners of her eyes, "I-I d-d-didn't mean t-to...to hurt d-daddy. I didn't mean to h-hurt him. It's...It's not my fault...!"

"What happened?" The words came out of his mouth a bit too harshly (he had meant it to come out as concerned), as he took another step forward to get his answers, but inwardly swore when something sparked in her emerald green eyes and she crushed herself against the wall, hand squeezing tighter around the remains of the hand before lifting her legs from beneath her to kick the table in front of her. He jumped back immediately.

"I SAID _IT WASN'T MY FAULT!_"

Before he knew it, the table that had been hiding her slid across the floor with a metallic screeching echoing in the room, bull-dozing battered bodies out of the way and crashing through the wall opposite—a loud crash was heard, and when the smoke cleared around that area, it revealed the table—dented and bent at weird angles—near a pile of debris. Eyes widening slightly, he stared at the mess she had created, hearing her crying again behind him, but he was too fixated on the hole to care.

She..._she made that with a single kick? _So the experiments that were being tested on her were ones that enhanced the body's strength, giving the test subjects powers that were capable of shattering all the bones in the body with a single push. Slowly but surely, a dark smirk crept to his lips. The blue-haired boy turned around once more, his posture relaxed and his smirk becoming a smile.

"Come with me."

Holding out his hand for her to take, he made sure that he looked friendly enough—he assumed she was foolish enough to believe his smile. The sniffles that emanated from her trembling form ceased for a few moments, her gaze traveling to his hand, up his arm, and to his face, shrinking back into the wall slightly, "W...What?"

He continued with his eyes darkening, "Join me. We'll take down this world and make sure they suffer through the pain—every single syringe they stabbed you with—that you and I and everyone else went through. This world...is insignificant—and is not in the least bit needed. _We'll destroy it without mercy._"

His mismatched gaze probed her small form, searching for any signs of snapping, but all she did was stare at his outstretched hand with wide-eyes. For a few more moments, she stayed silent, but then sent a trembling hand towards his awaiting one. Taking it hesitantly, she lifted herself off of the ground all the while letting go of the remains of her father's hand and his smile grew; letting go, she gripped the stained fabric of her dress and scrunched her face in an attempt to stop herself but crying. Before he knew it, she choked back a sob and flew into his arms, clutching onto his shirt as if her life depended on it.

He stiffened—she was too strong for her own good and one wrong move on her end would crush his ribcage—but relaxed when he figured she wasn't going to do anything. Slowly, albeit hesitantly, he lifted his hand and rubbed soothing circles on her back. With his gaze traveling to the trident in his hand (which had been grabbed when he jumped out of the table's way just in case she decided to charge at him), he tightened his grip on it and let his previous smile become a dark smirk.

His right eye—which was bruised and throbbing a bit and red, _red, red_—glowed in the dimly-lit room.

A new toy for his new collection.

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><p><em>I don't know how to write Mukuro, so if he seems OOC...please don't blame me, :C but yeah. I guess this was a bit challenging to write, but hopefully you guys like this one! <em>

_Oh, and I forgot to mention in the previous chapter, but certain things involving Sakura—such as her age, occupation, past, history, whereabouts—will vary. Sometimes she'll be 14, sometimes she'll be 10, sometimes she'll be 24, sometimes she'll be in the past, sometimes she'll be a librarian, sometimes she'll be a crazy experiment that has super-weird strengths and a bad temper, etc. So yeah, don't be confused! These one-shots aren't connected to each other whatsoever, unless you request for a follow-up chapter._

_Thanks for your support, guys! And sorry if I didn't write the pairing(s) you wanted, D: just hope that the next one is the one you want, :) Go ahead and suggest a pairing you wanna see, no matter how outrageous it is~ So keep on reading and being awesome!  
><em>

I do not own Naruto or KHR—I simply make fanfiction for them.


	3. folklore

**_folklore._**

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><p>Gokudera—in his bad-assed glory and his make-shift crown of leaves—sat in complete silence on a large tree that over-looked the whole market center of Namimori (luckily for him, he had easy access up and down from the branches for quicker movement should his target make a sudden change in plans), his lips deep-set in a scowl as he searched the crowds for a particularly-colored head of hair. Bringing a hand to shield his stormy green eyes from the sun's rays, he squinted, focusing his sight on a particular head that stood out.<p>

There _she_ was—the only head of pink in a sea of brown and black.

And why _pink_, of all the colors in the color spectrum, would be chosen as hair color? No one—and when he said no one, he actually meant _no one_—knew why Sakura Haruno, the new exchange student from Japan's prestigious Konoha Academy for the Gifted, had pink hair; and it had been the first thing that he and everyone else in the school noticed when she first stepped foot on Namimori Middle School grounds. She had been graceful, taking light steps towards Class 1-A with her chin up and her head of pink locks bouncing; as soon as she stepped into the classroom, he was suspicious.

Not because there was a chance that she could be in a rival mafia family sent to assassinate the Tenth Boss (oh, and he was _very _cautious about that; he made sure no stranger—especially weird-looking girls—got into Boss's business, even_ if _she wanted to make plans for a study session. They had to get through _him _first), but because when she had walked in, something sparkly and tiny fell from her uniform.

He didn't think anyone else saw it, as they just began to ask questions about her hair color and why she transferred to Namimori, but he did. It might have been glitter—that was what the logical part of him berated on—but he knew it was something else; deep down, he had a feeling that it had a mystical purpose, and was a type of dust that only mystical creatures had. And as she made her way to her seat (which was, fortunately, as far away from Boss's seat as possible and on the other side of the room), he concluded that there was something off about her. Something _very _off.

As the days progressed, he began to notice subtle things that others—including the baseball idiot and Boss—didn't notice about her. She had a reflexes as skilled as a cat, automatically catching things that fell her way without even batting an eyelash (well, he even noticed that too! It was as if she didn't blink very often—either that, or she was too quick for him to catch her). She was also flexible, dodging the rubber balls that were meant to tag her out in PE when they were all playing dodgeball; he _swore _she looked like she was gliding through the air with ease...

..._like she was flying on invisible wings..._

And that was when it finally hit him—it took him a while to find out who (or more likely, _what_) Sakura Haruno was, but he finally figured it out (and this was pretty surprising, as the whole problem made him resort to bringing out his glasses and ponytail; that...and the folklore books he researched in had the _tiniest_ fonts he had ever seen). Sakura Haruno was no normal human being—hell, he was sure she wasn't even a human being at all. Sakura Haruno...was the _Legendary Fairy of the Cherry Blossom Tree_.

Now, he was sure he was right about that, because the Baseball Idiot's information was probably wrong (now, why would she be a ballerina? And he didn't hear about a play that starred a _pink-haired girl _as one of the sparkly princesses that would become kidnapped—the whole idea seemed absolutely preposterous; _well, that was Yamamoto for you_), and he had been observing her for the past few weeks, so his research was rock-solid (he was also sure she hid those pointy ears of her's under that long hair she had).

And now would be his time to confront her.

He shifted in his spot, nearly losing his balance and falling into the vast ocean of people below; his newest discovery would be recorded in his books, and would be remembered throughout his years of growing up. A determined grin crawled to his face, a hand sliding up to pull out a stray twig that tangled itself in his silver hair; _this would be one heck of a day. _

Grunting, he carefully stood on the branch and clutched onto the higher branches for support, one hand shielding his squinting eyes as he searched the crowds for the soon-to-be-discovered flower fairy and—_wait, where the heck did she go? _His brow furrowed, and before he knew it, he was searching the waves of orange and black and brown and auburn for a cotton candy pink, stormy green eyes analyzing the ever-expanding horizon for the sly, flexible, and graceful movements of the fairy that he worked his _ass off_ to identify ('cause there was _no freaking way _he was going to let his hard work go to waste)—

"Gokudera-san? Hey, GOKUDERA-SAN!"

_Shit! _At the sudden outburst from below him, he jumped—that unwanted action caused him to slip on his feet, and he promptly fell onto the soft (_and fucking sharp; why the hell do twigs have to be so goddamn sharp and pointy?_) bushes below, feeling the grass poke into his scalp uncomfortably; with a pained groan, he weakly pushed himself off of the ground and lifted his head to see a blob of red and pink looming over his form. Even with his dizzy sight, he knew who it was. _The Legendary Fairy has spoken to him._

And once his vision cleared, he realized she did not look the slightest bit serene. In actuality, she looked pretty ticked off. (_Was that even possible? Fairies were supposed to be helpful and kind-hearted and mystical, not giving people dirty looks and refusing to even touch them in order to help them up from the ground._)

The silver-haired boy hastily brushed off the twigs and leaves that stuck to his shirt and pants, all but ripping off the crown of leaves (that were meant to camouflage him...but that obviously was a waste of time seeing as he had been spotted by his target herself) and tossing it into the bushes nearby. Once he was clean and twig-free, he begrudgingly looked up to meet her gaze, his cheeks heating up in pure embarrassment.

She shifted her weight onto one leg with something akin to slight impatience, "Okay, look. I know you've been following me around, I'm not stupid—and at first, I was fine with it and I didn't care. But now...? This...Whatever _this _is...really needs to stop. You're creeping me out."

He stared at her with horror written all over his face, startled and taken aback with his pale cheeks now flushing a dark crimson; he lifted his hands up in defense, "W-Wait...I'm not—" _HE'S BEEN CAUGHT. _

"Are you some sort of _stalker_?" She pressed on, narrowing her emerald eyes at him with caution.

He nearly choked on his spit, but regained his posture. Almost immediately, his lips twitched into a scowl as he balled his fists at his sides. "_No! _Of course not, you idiot! What would be the freaking point in stalking you when I can just go up to you and talk like any _normal_ _human being _would?" After a few more moments, he looked away with his shoulders back, scratching his cheek with a scowl still set on his face, "Tch."

She stayed silence for a while, watching him with observant emerald eyes like a hawk watching its prey, but he did not wilt under the fairy's gaze. He raised an eye brow, narrowing his eyes in challenge, "What? Do you have something to say to me? Che, just say it to my face." (From what he had gathered, the Fairy tested human beings with their penetrating gazes; should the human being wilt under their gaze, they would brush them off and deem them unworthy of their presence, and should they match their gaze, the Fairy would consider them as equals. He would _not _give in—not when it was an opportunity to learn more about her species.)

A few more moments passed and she looked away, a light pink flushing her cheeks as she placed her hands on her hips. With interest, he watched as she took a deep breath and shot him a somewhat-irritated (yet not so much, as if she was feigning it) glance. Tapping her shoe against the grass, she bit her lip and furrowed her brow before looking to the side, focusing her attention to the lonely vending machine nearby.

"Well...would you like to come with me to the cafe then?" She asked hesitantly, fidgeting with her red blouse in uncertainty. She added with a sharp glance and a small teasing (yet still hesitant; the Fairy sure knew how to keep her guard up) smile that had his eye brows shooting to his hairlines (but he recovered quickly and covered it with another scowl), "Since you're not stalking me—and since you, you know, want to talk to me like a '_normal human being_.'"

_Clever fairy. _"Tch. Whatever."

And as they made their way to the cafe, hands brushing a few times as they did so (which he wouldn't admit until later, since they had been having a heated conversation about extraterrestrials and the paranormal that time; he didn't know Fairies were into those kinds of things, and would later take note of it when she wasn't looking), he grinned to himself in satisfaction; it was a great achievement to finally interact with a modern-day fairy.

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><p><em>Yeaup. I just wanted to post this up before I forget to do it in the morning. School tomorrow. Fun, fun, fun. Haha, C: stay awesome and thanks for the support! I'll be working on the pairings you suggested in the mean time. <em>

I do not own Naruto or KHR—I simply make fanfiction for them.


	4. scripted

**_scripted._**

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><p>It had all started with a simple study session—Sakura Haruno really couldn't believe her ears when her long time crush, Basil (<em>oh, sweet Basil-kun...<em>)actually _agreed _to help her study for her up-coming test for the CEDEF's Medical Division (_femurs and phalanges and ulna, oh my; _really, she was only 15-years-old but she was already expected to memorize the entire human anatomy in only a few days—it amazed her at how she didn't spot any white hairs yet). If she weren't so satisfied with the fact that he'd be gracing her with his presence, then maybe she would've been suspicious.

But never had she imagined she'd be trapped between _his body _and the shelves for the human anatomy books in the head-quarter's library.

The back of her head made contact with the cold, metal shelf, and as soon as Basil blocked her ways of escaping by placing his hands on the shelf next to either side of her head, she wondered when the _hell_ did things exactly turn out that way (not that she was complaining or anything, it was just that her test was in a few hours and doing anything _but _studying wouldn't really help her).

Ignoring her buckling knees and her churning stomach, she gulped, looking up at his blue eyes with hesitant curiosity; her hands clenched tightly to the book that she held to her chest. She was sure there would be indents of her fingernails on the cover of the hard book later. Her mouth opened, but she immediately snapped it shut when he leaned forward to rest his forehead on her's. A few strands of his dirty brown hair fell in her line of sight.

"Sakura-dono..."

His voice was nothing but a mere whisper—soft, gentle, smooth, filled with so many emotions, and despite the fact that she enjoyed every single second of being his center of attention, she was freaking out inside. _Because really, it wasn't everyday your crush came up to you out of nowhere and began to seduce you with just their voice_—it was unimaginable, the chances of that happening were one in a million and—she was effectively pushed back down to reality and out of her inner panic when she felt his breath fan against her face. She sharply inhaled, "B-Basil-kun..."

"A maiden such as thyself is the epitome of beauty and everything graceful," he began, face so dangerously close to her's, voice clouded with something she really couldn't recognize (she couldn't really register anything at the moment; her head was spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning and her heart was thumping, thumping, thumping), "Dost thou believe in serendipity, such as I? Serendipity is at fault, as thou art the highlight of my existence—grateful, I am, to have you in my life."

She watched with crimson cheeks as he closed his eyes and smiled softly, a hand gently being laid on her shoulder. "I do believe we are meant to be."

Her mind was going_ crazy_. "I love you, Sakura-dono."

Her heart was beating wildly against her chest, hammering to the point where she could actually _feel _and _hear _the blood pumping through her veins, her throat had gone dry, her body refused to obey her mind (which was practically screaming at her to just scream, faint, wake up, squeal, and die happy), and everything around her seemed to just disappear—and it was only her...and him. She couldn't respond—and so, with their faces only inches apart, he craned his head, closing the distance between them with a passionate yet gentle kiss that made her face grow hot and her stomach to churn in warmth. _Oh my go_—

_Basil_—cute, kind, nice-guy Basil who spoke with outdated terms and had a dimpled smile that melted her from the inside out; the Basil that she had had a crush on for over _three years_—_was _kissing _her. _And not just the kind of kiss where it lasted only a few seconds, but the kind of kiss that lovers gave to each other, the kind of kiss that only happened in movies and books and fantasies. And as a hand came up to tangle in her short locks, she distantly wondered if she was dreaming.

But he felt too real, too warm, just _too freaking real _to be a dream...so, she kissed back. Small and hesitant, her hands slowly let go of the book in her arms, letting it drop to the floor with a dull 'THUMP' as it came in contact with the carpet, lips moving awkwardly yet in sync with his own. The pinkette, cheeks flushed with embarrassment and brow crinkled in concentration (really, she should be concentrated on _studying _and _not _how soft Basil's lips were, or how lovingly he held her in his arms, or how he was _such _a great kisser...no, no, she should be studying), rested her hands on his shoulders, her fingertips lightly tracing the seams of his suit.

In all honesty, she had never—not even once—kissed anybody. Aside from those greeting kisses given and received from close friends and family members, she had never once shared a kiss of mutual attraction, especially one so loving. So to say that she didn't know how to kiss would be the honest truth—so when Basil had decided to interrupt their study time, she panicked. And she certainly _did not _know how to react to public displays of affection. Kissing, in her experience of watching movies and spending nights reading romance novels, seemed so easy—_it was all just a matter of moving the lips in a certain way, correct?_

But after experiencing her first kiss, she thought to herself, _no_—_no, it wasn't as easy as it looked. _

And when something warm and wet glided hesitantly over her lower lip, she panicked even more. It was that simple action that made her plummet back down to earth and realize...something wasn't right—it took her a few moments, but then she realized Basil was too much of nice guy to actually rush into something as intense as '_french kissing' _(at which point made her blush to her roots because it's _tongue on tongue action_, and should only be saved for a later date in time) and would not do something so..._bold_.

At that thought, her emerald eyes snapped open, and as soon as they did, she spotted something shiny and metallic glinted behind his dirty brown strands where his ear would be. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. _What the hell was that?_

Small, nearly invisible, black, and fit snug into his ear...an ear piece. Straining her ears to hear anything (besides the sounds of wet lips mushing together..._god, she could feel her stomach turning in distaste at the worsening situation and she did not know _why _exactly she kept kissing him_), she heard an oddly familiar voice (loud, teasing and full of happy-go-luck—there was only one person who fit that description in the CEDEF) cheered from the other side.

_"That's my apprentice! Now continue doing what I told you for the next few minutes and I'll explain to you about the sensitivity of the _neck_ and _earlobes_..."_

She put two and two together...and that was when all hell broke loose. _So Iemitsu's been pulling the strings, eh? Well, I'm gonna pull on those strings and rip them out of his hands and then after that, I'm gonna rip _him _to shreds, SHANNARO! _Eyes narrowing into slits, she pulled away and feigned a smile, brushing his hair behind his ear with gently and nimble fingers before—growling, she immediately snatched the piece and caught the brown-haired boy off-guard, crushing it in her grip in pure rage. She growled, the smile dropping from her face completely as she dangled the cracked object in front of his face, "What is _this_?"

The pinkette watched with a hawk's gaze as Basil gulped, all the color being drained from his face in an unceremonious fashion. He took a cautious step back, letting his hands drop to his side as he looked from left to right in an attempt to make an escape, but she wasn't going to let that happen (_oh no, there was no freaking way she was going to let him get away without any explanation_—_she wanted one and one way or another, she was going to _get _one_). She stepped forward, hands balling into fists while he raised his hands in defense, "T-That's..."

"I...I...It's not..."

"Basil, what the hell is going on?"

She was angry, frustrated, irritated beyond belief, but most of all...she was hurt. Hurt, because she actually thought Basil reciprocated her feelings. Hurt...because she actually trusted him. And now...he was using her? (She knew that was probably not true, seeing as Basil was an honest and nice guy who wasn't the type to do those kinds of things...but her rational mind was clouded with thoughts of beating something—or more likely _someone_—to a pulp at the moment to actually think straight.) Her heart clenched painfully.

She waited impatiently, one hand on her hip while the other moved to toss the crackling ear piece over to the side as her foot tapped against the carpet of the library. Emerald eyes observed the boy across from her carefully, watching his every single move before he let out a shaky breath and looked away. With his head bowed in shame and his hands fidgeting with each other uncharacteristically, he murmured, "I...I'm afraid to tell thee that I...that I am inexperienced in relationships and expressing my feelings for someone. I've asked Master if he could teach me how to 'get the girl' and he simply reassured my success...should I wear that ear piece."

The pinkette blinked, pausing for a few moments, all of the previous anger and hurt and frustration flying out the door in a mere second. And then, after registering what he had said, she nearly face-palmed.

Shaking her head, she took a few steps forward and placed a re-assuring pat on his shoulder, giving him a concerned look—their eyes met for a few seconds and she then saw how guilty and embarrassed he looked. She gave him a sad smile, "Basil...when you like someone and you want to tell them, you can't just let people tell you what to say. When you do, you lose all genuine feelings and just let someone else do the talking for you, as if you were just a puppet. You need to follow what _your_ instincts and heart tells you."

"So you don't need a script," she beamed, slowly taking his hand and placing it on his chest, over the place where his heart would be, feeling it beat against her finger tips as she did so, "Just tell them what you want to say, straight from the heart."

They stayed like that for a few brief moments, just staring at each other—no words were said; no words were needed to be said. Biting her lip hesitantly, she let her fingers rest comfortably in the spaces between his fingers, lightly caressing the back of his hand with her thumb. And as if his face became bright with realization, he smiled softly with a light pink adorning his cheeks, cupping their joined hands with his free one. Tracing unknown shapes into the back of her hand, he lifted his gaze from their hands and into her emerald eyes.

"I understand, Sakura-dono."

Her gaze softened; and with that, she leaned forward and placed a sweet, gentle kiss on his lips—a kiss totally unlike the first yet so similar; chaste, yet so full of subtle passion—lingering for a few seconds before leaning back and giggling at his awestruck face (because Basil with his jaw-dropped looked so cute and made her want to squeeze his cheeks). Letting go of his hand, she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and sighed, resting her chin on his shoulder, "Basil, I could hit you...but I love you _too_ much right now to care."

"S-Sakura-dono..." He was tense at first, but eventually relaxed in her hold and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her short pink locks as he did so. She could practically _feel _his smile radiating off of him; not that it was particularly a bad thing—to be honest, she enjoyed seeing that cute dimpled smile of his. He murmured into her hair softly, "I am truly honored. Thank you, Sakura-dono."

Giggling softly to herself, she snuggled into the crook of his neck, feeling his hair tickle the side of her face. Although, something reached her ears from a few feet away, a sound which she wouldn't have heard if the library weren't so quiet. The pinkette turned her head, only to spot something small and dark on the ground, words broken and static-y coming from it. _"Basil—now you have t—ake sure that i—"_

At the sight of the object, she pulled away, her smile twitching ominously as she forced her words through gritted teeth, "I think it's time for me to pay Iemitsu-san a little _visit_..."

She didn't miss the flash of fear that crossed the brown-haired boy's face.

* * *

><p>In the now empty library, screams, yells, and crashing objects pierced the air from the nearly-crushed earpiece on the floor. After a few final cries (<em>"SHANNARO!"<em> and, _"N-NANA...!"_ and, _"Master!"_), the room went silent—and then, no more.

* * *

><p><em>As requested by asdf. C:<em>

_I'm a bit iffy about this 'cause I think I totally butchered those out-dated terms, oh my. I don't know if anyone is OOC, D: I hope they aren't, I really do! I have little experience in writing Iemitsu and Basil, so please tell me if they are and I'll learn from my mistakes. Overall, I hoped you liked it! C: I appreciate your support, you guys! THANK YOU!_

I do not own Naruto or KHR—I simply make fanfiction for them.


	5. birthmark

**_birthmark._**

* * *

><p>A single bead of sweat rolled down her broad forehead and Sakura found herself narrowing her eyes at the shaggy-haired prince before her—his hands, swift and nimble, twirled a sharp and shiny object between his slender fingers ominously. She gulped, shifting uncomfortably under his invisible gaze (because really, with those long bangs of his, she had never once seen his eyes; and so, for the meantime, she concluded he had no eyes until proven otherwise); she needed to be careful, she needed to be diligent, but what she needed the most—<p>

"Shoulder blade."

—was a good guess.

Unfortunately for her, her guessing skills were not as good as others'. The moment she saw his grin widen (_was that even possible? _She was sure his face was going to split apart any moment if she didn't do it first!) and that annoying laugh of his escape his lips (_'Ushishishishi!' What the _hell _kind of laugh was _that_?_), she knew she had once again failed. As if on cue, the other 16-year-old tilted his head to the side and stopped twirling his knife in his hand, and before she knew it, she narrowly avoided having the said sharp object embedded into her forehead.

He laughed, reaching into his back pocket for another knife, "Nope!"

If it weren't for her good reflexes, then she'd be dead (and of course, if it weren't for her quick reflexes and medical skills, then she wouldn't be in the Varia—she also wouldn't be playing the Guessing Game of Death with that jerk, Belphegor). _THE STUPID JERK WAS TRYING TO KILL HER. _Pursing her lips, she looked at the spot where she had been standing in earlier and deadpanned at the knife—perfectly sticking out of the wall at the spot where her head would've been, it glinted once more.

Her cheek began to sting, making her cringe, and she didn't need to see to know that she was cut. Even if she had successfully avoided the knife, she had not ducked far enough to avoid the thin and sharp string following it. _Crap._

She honestly did not know how, who, what, where, when, and why they had started that _stupid _game in the first place, but all she knew was that she'd have to guess right or else she'd be dying of blood loss by the end of the day. For some reason, if she'd survive that stupid game, then she'd probably had lost a few limbs or two. Biting her lip, the pinkette let out a breath she'd been holding and prepared herself to dodge once more. Furrowing her brow, she spoke with hesitance lacing her single word. "Knee."

"Wrong!"

She didn't even have time to groan in displeasure—once again, she found herself dodging a few knives, which landed in the wall being her with dull 'THUNK's as they did so. Luckily for her, she dodged them at the right time and remained unscathed besides the small tear at the edge of her Varia uniform (shit, she was going to have to fix that later). Inwardly swearing, she shot the so-called 'Prince the Ripper' a dirty look, crossing her arms over her chest as he laughed once more.

The blond-haired boy moved forward, taking slow, painfully slow steps towards her tensing form, and once he was close enough, she waited for him to strike at her.

"You're going to have to do better than that, princess." He lifted his knife, tracing the outline of her waist, up to her collar bone, and stopped at her neck—there, she felt the sharp object slowly and lightly caress her exposed skin, moving under her chin to tilt her head up. She knew not to move—one move could lead to a slash across her throat (although, that would be partly her fault since she provoked him...but he shouldn't even be walking around throwing knives at random people), so she stayed still, frozen and unmoving while he grinned down at her shorter form.

_That wasn't a good sign. _(She'd never admit it, but his grins were probably the scariest thing she'd seen besides Squalo's obsession with his hair.)

Belphegor tilted his head to the side, grin never wavering, "Well? Aren't you going to guess again?" More pressure was applied to the knife, making a shallow cut under her chin as he spoke in a low voice, _"Can't keep a prince waiting, you know."_

She would have shivered (because damn him and his damnable smooth voice), but she shook it off; _now wasn't the time to think about those kinds of things. _

Her emerald eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she stood her ground; but despite her head-strong facade, she was practically shitting bricks and having a mental break down. Her mind was trying to think up spots of where _it _could be—his arm, his back, his foot, his elbow, _the back of his freaking ear_—but every guess she had said so far had gotten a knife shot in her direction. It was so bad that the previous rooms they had both been in had knives littering the ceiling, walls, and floors. She was just _that _bad. (She had a gut feeling that it would be the cause of her downfall.)

_Oh, who was she kidding? _With her face a bit hesitant, she questioned, voice small and weak and laced with _defeat_ (and oh, how she was so ashamed of herself for feeling so), "...butt cheek?"

_Great, Sakura. You've managed to make yourself look like an idiot in front of the person who'd take the most satisfaction in it. _His irritating laugh added more shame to her turmoil.

"You suck at guessing, princess," he scolded with a grin before turning around and walking a few steps with his hands in his pockets—in a moment, she was side-stepping the knives he began to throw at her, three at a time. Furrowing her brow, she ran towards the wall adjacent to her and expertly scaled up towards the ceiling, hearing the 'THUNK's of the knife burying themselves into the wall in her wake. With a small self-satisfied smirk, she pushed herself off of the wall and propelled towards the chandelier, feeling it spin when she gripped onto it.

_G...Getting dizzy..._Ignoring the light-headed side-effect, she tried her best to focus on the blonde-haired 16-year-old beneath her—unfortunately for her, the knives did not cease.

Three knives had been thrown in her direction, and with a yell, she used her feet to kick them away. The sudden action caused her hands to slip off of the chandelier—she then found herself falling towards the earth. _Thank god she had good reflexes! _Instead of falling on her butt like people normally do when they fall from a high place, she landed gracefully and on her feet, tumbling a few times before ending in a crouched position and facing the direction of her enemy, who—she noted with pursed lips, irritation filling her veins—was standing casually in the center of the room with his hands in his pockets once again.

Cocking his head to the side, he leered through blonde bangs in her direction. Taking slow steps, he advanced towards, like a predator stalking it prey, "I have the _best_ place to have a birthmark."

_Was he finally ending that stupid game? _She seriously hoped so—maybe she wouldn't end up with any missing limbs (_and she needed her limbs, thank you very much; what good of a medic would she be if she didn't have any arms to treat their wounds with?_); that, and she had spent over 2 _freaking _hours just trying to guess his stupid _birthmark_. Once he stopped in front of her at arm's length, she stood up from her crouched position and dusted herself off with indignation radiating off of her petite form

Raising a slender pink eye brow, she asked, "Why is it the best place?" _And why the hell is it so hard to freaking find? It's just a _birthmark, _for fuck's sakes!_

_"Because..."_ he started, tone full of mischief. At that exact moment, she knew he was up to something—so when his hand suddenly shot out and took a firm hold of her smaller one, pulling it towards him, her eyes widened and her breath caught. _Shit. _What the hell was that jerk planning? She resisted the urge to tear her hand out of her grip (which she was so ready to do—a good attempt of a punch was plausible, too) but then he put it under his purple and black striped shirt.

_UNDER HIS SHIRT. _As soon as she registered that, her eyes widened and her mind (which was full of thoughts of violence and screeching and pissed-off thoughts) shut down. Because 1) he had put her hand under his shirt, 2) his skin was hot to the touch and it made her throat go dry, and 3) _her hand was under his shirt. _And then, if things could get any worse (or better...but that wasn't the freaking point and she should _not _have such thoughts at the moment), he began to slowly bring her hand up, letting the shirt go up with it.

The skin beneath the palm of her hand was warm and smooth, and she could feel the lean and lithe muscles that had formed over the years. Her face—ever since he had began—was growing hotter with each second, and for some reason, she couldn't find the will power to look away. She just kept on staring at that exposed skin of his. But then something caught her eye; something small, a few shades darker than his skin, and her gaze slowly traveled from his lean abs, to his belly button, and to the ride side of his abdomen—there was his birthmark, sitting mockingly near the belt loop of his pants in the shape of a crescent. _Oh my_—

The room was spinning, her breath was beginning to grow quicker and quicker, and something—warm and metallic-smelling, it was probably blood—dripping from her nose. And then he leaned forward, pressing her hand against the spot over his birthmark (_oh god oh god oh god why does it feel so—_) with his grin as wide as ever; he laughed with amusement lacing his oh-so-smooth voice. "I like your reaction, ushishishi!"

She promptly fainted.

* * *

><p><em>ASDFGHJKLQWERTYUIIOPBXCBXVN—!<em>

_Oh my gosh. I hope I didn't butcher Belphagor, I-I mean, I have inexperience in writing him and...and...and...I hope he doesn't seem OOC. Good golly. :U Oh, weeeeeell...oh, and still working on the requested pairings! (: You can request a pairing if you want~ Triangles are fine, too! (And I ain't talking about the hypotenuse-base-times-height kinda triangles and stuff~) So thanks for your support once again! I appreciate you taking the time to read~! :'D  
><em>

I do not own Naruto or KHR—I simply make fanfiction for them.


	6. treatment

**treatment**.

* * *

><p>"OW! Hey, Sakura-san...that hurt!"<p>

The said pink-haired girl smirked, tightening the bandages around his bruised ribcage with an aura of victory; Dino squirmed uncomfortably at her actions, his handsome face scrunching up into a pained grimace. Sakura—with her emerald eyes sparkling in feigned concern for the blonde-haired boy—gasped, a hand dramatically flying to her mouth.

"Oh, so sorry Dino-san!" The feigned concerned disappeared and was replaced by a dirty look that was sent his way. "But really, don't be such a wuss. And you should know better than to be hanging around the office when Tsunade-shishou's drinking! Her temper gets short. Besides..."

There was a slight pause in her speaking, and he _knew _something was wrong. He could _feel it _coming. (And also her face kind of darkened a bit so he had a good feeling she was pretty annoyed.) She tightened the grip once more, earning her a yelp before she pulled away and gave him a good smack on his exposed back.

"You deserved it! Namie was innocent and _you took her away_!"

Dino yelped, the force of her palm nearly throwing him off of the bed he was seated on. The _sheer strength _she held in that scrawny body of her's always amazed him, and had him wondering _where the heck did she hold all of that? _

Either she had a naturally good punch or Tsunade had to be training the poor girl's ass off day in and day out (he secretly hoped it was the latter, because in a few years time, should the training with Tsunade continue, Sakura Haruno—the girly girl who was scrawny, pink-haired, and oh-so-fragile-looking—would become a body-building living weapon who would destroy the earth with just the stomp of a foot).

_But he had to admit..._her strength wasn't the only thing he found amazing about her.

Sure, she was just like any other girl in Italy (girly, moody, squeals over hot boys that pass by her in the streets), but there was just something about her that attracted him to her. He resisted the urge to sigh and fought the blood that was beginning to make its way to his cheeks.

Maybe it was the way her pink hair shined when the sunlight kissed her, or the way her eyes of emerald would light up whenever she got complimented on something she did, the way her face and the tips of her ears would heat up and turn red whenever she was annoyed or mad and—

_"Dino."_

Her voice brought him back down to earth and at that point he realized that the face that he had just been talking about was now only _centimeters_ away from his own (and there was a little voice in the back of his head that nagged him to close the distance, but he pushed it away frantically _because she was pretty annoyed with him at the moment_). He jumped, caught off-guard, and registered the way she scowled at him. She looked as if she were waiting for him to say something. He blinked.

"What? What did I do?" And he honestly _didn't _know what he did—either that, or he just didn't remember.

"AUGH! You're so hopeless sometimes!"

And with that, the pink-haired girl shook her head and let out a groan, running a hand through her shoulder-lengthed pink tresses. She turned around for a moment, taking a few steps away from him, before veering around with an accusing finger pointed towards his bandaged torso. "Weren't you listening to me _at all_? I was saying that I'm _still _pretty mad that you _broke _Namie."

_She was_—_she was still mad at him for _that? _Was she actually _serious?

"For breaking your _porcelain doll_?" He whined, squirming on the infirmary bed anxiously. "T...That was ages ago—and I told you that I was sorry! And my shoelaces were untied that time!"

Most of that was pretty much true...except for the 'shoelace part.' He wouldn't admit it, but his shoelaces were _tied _and that the only reason he fell was because he was clumsy like that. _Too clumsy, _to be exact—and he sort of resented that. (And sometimes he really wished he wasn't so freaking clumsy, because he had a feeling that his tendency to fall flat on his face over nothing would end up with him in a life or death situation.) But she wasn't buying _any _of it.

Sakura growled, hands balling around the skirt of her uniform as she sent a glare towards the blonde-haired boy in front of her. In all honesty, she wasn't the type of girl to hold grudges, but in Dino's case...well, _let's just say he was a pain in her ass. _

Dino was clumsy (which, although she found it cute and adorable and funny all at the same time, got annoying since he'd always come running to _her_—for some damn reason—whenever he ended up with a cut or a scratch or a bump on the head), he was whiny, he was a teenage-boy-child with an awkwardly cracking voice—he was simply annoying.

But _for some damn reason, _she couldn't help but stay his friend. And the reason for that?

"No, it was because you were too busy prancing around the damn hallways to actually look where you were going! You're an absolute_ idiot_!"

When she was finished rantnig, she pulled her fist back and bonked him on the back of his head—which, unfortunately for the blonde-haired teen, sent him careening face-first into the tiled floor of the infirmary. The SMACK! of his handsome face echoed in the room, and when a small, pained and muffled whimper sounded from his twitching form on the floor, she let out a small 'harrumph' and looked away, her arms crossing as she did so.

_Maybe_ she wanted to look after him—but _only_ to make sure he didn't break anyone else's porcelain dolls. (_And okay...he maybe-sorta-kinda grew on her._)

(There was another reason as to why she stayed his friend but she denied it and vehemetly pushed those thoughts out of her mind.)

"S...Sakura-san..." Her emerald eyes traveled to Dino, who weakly pushed himself off of the floor and cradled the back of his head carefully. She had a feeling it would throb for a while. (Well, she was just gonna heal him anyway to save herself from the guilt...) He cried, his wide chocolate eyes clouded in hurt and pain looking up at her petite form, "I already got hit by a desk...why'd you—ouch...do that?"

_Really? He couldn't even handle a small punch? _She snorted. Sure, it was un-lady like to do that, but old habits were pretty hard to die. Crossing her arms over her chest with a look of indignation, she lifted her head up with her nose in the air, brushing him off with the wave of her wrist. "Oh puh-lease. Cry me a river."

"Saaaaakura-saaaaan..." Her eye brow twitched; _did this guy ever shut up? _(Well, she knew him for a pretty long time, and even if she didn't want to, she already knew the answer.) The blonde teen whined, sniffling while turning his head to the side and facing away from her. He cradled his head. "It hurts..."

"I didn't mean literally."

A small sigh escaped her lips—there was nothing she could do to stop the guilt that was beginning to bubble up in her stomach, and the sniffles that emanated from his lanky form did nothing to soothe her. The pink-haired medic glanced down at him for a moment, her emerald eyes a shade darker (because really...she didn't punch him _that _hard...it wasn't like she gave him a concussion or anything) than usual.

She rubbed her forearm a few times, shaking her head in confusion (only because she wanted to mask her guilt but she guessed she wasn't doing a great job at it). "What do you want me to do, kiss it to make it better?"

She'll be honest—that question was definitely _not _meant to be taken seriously. But when he didn't reply, and instead decided to remain silent as soon as the words flew out of her mouth, she knew that she was going to regret ever offering that to him. (And if she were to squint hard enough, she would see that the tips of his ears—which peaked out from his blonde hair—began to turn different shades of red _because out of all the things she could say, she offered to kiss him. _Why that sneaky little—)

Although his face was hidden from her view (he was still cradling his head, slouched into a small ball near the foot of the bed), the small squeak that escaped his lips confirmed her fears.

"...Yes." _Oh...gosh..._

No, no, no—okay, she was just trying to be nice, but she _really_ didn't mean for that question to be answered (_but there was a place in her heart that told her she wanted it to be answered_). Her stomach churned uncomfortably, though, because she knew that deep down, she deserved to feel guilty. Dino—_oh, that poor, clumsy loser_—had been hit by a _freaking desk_, and she had to go on and punch him on the head and make him feel even worse than he was when he first stumbled into her infirmary.

She _guessed_ she could spare the trouble and just give him a quick lip to his head...

Her lips twitched up into a scowl (and oh how she tried not to let it show), and before she could stop it, her cheeks began to heat up (_stupid body, stop reacting like this! Stop blushing __**RIGHT AT THIS INSTANT!**_). She growled and sent him a small glare, "Fine, get up!"

And he did so, taking a seat on the bed with a hand rubbing the back of his head tenderly—and as she took a step closer towards him and came face-to-face with his handsome features (she noticed that he was pretty much red in the cheeks), large chocolate brown eyes looking down at her through thick eyelashes, she wondered to herself if she could actually do it. _Because really...it felt pretty weird..._For a few moments, she simply stared at him with a hesitant look crossing her features.

_It's just a simple peck on the top of his head, no biggie_—_come on, Sakura, you can do this! _

He rubbed his arms awkwardly while waiting for her to proceed, and after rolling her eyes (_don't show it, don't you dare show that you are nervous_—_it was just a small one, COME ON_), she rested her trembling hands atop his shoulders and...and...(_JUST DO IT...SAKURA HARUNO DON'T YOU DARE BACK DOWN NOW JUST...JUST_—)

...and placed a haste and somewhat disgusted peck at the crown of his head, blonde strands of hair sticking to her moist lips.

_Okay, so that wasn't _so _bad..._

Her heart was beating a hundred miles an hour behind the confines of her rib cage—she could practically feel the beats against the inside of her chest. Pulling away as quickly as she could, she wiped her lips furiously with the back of her hand (and secretly hiding the red that stained her cheeks in the process because she _just kissed Dino, who was pretty much the clumsiest kid she knew_) and stuck her tongue out in distaste. "Ugh, gross! Pfftph, gah! Are you—bleh—feeling better _now_?"

She was pretty sure the blood that had rushed to her cheeks was still there, but she paid no mind to it. Sakura inwardly growled, averting her gaze away from him in an attempt to calm her raging nerves down. _He _better _be feeling better_—_a kiss like that should definitely not be wasted!_

"No..." _**WHAT. WHAT. **_

"W-When I hit the floor, I got a cut," he stammered, his face becoming redder by the moment (oh how she wanted to wipe that blush off of his pretty little face), "Over here."

Emerald eyes watched hawkishly as a hand came up to his face and—_no. No. NO. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY SHE'D_—pointed to a small, nearly unnoticable cut on his bottom lip which looked pretty red. _He must really be enjoying it, huh? _But that was crossing the line! When her brain _finally _registered the place where she was going to have to...to _kiss..._next, she reeled back in horrified awe, her face becoming red.

"There is absolutely _NO_ way I'm kissing you there—"

"B-But—"

She cut him off swiftly and sharply, shaking her head of pink in denial. "No! Absolutely, positively, NO WAY! _That's it_."

"It hurts. Please, Sakura-san?" She dared not to look at him—she couldn't. But then there was a small voice in the back of her head that told her to _do it, look at him, just give him a chance_—and she desperately tried not to. Because if she did, her cheeks would go red and her heart would race and her palms would go sweaty and she'd have doubts about how she looked and if her breath smelled okay—_because if she did, it would probably change everything. _

For a while now had she began to see Dino in a different light—she had grown attached to him, she had grown fond of him, _she had grown to love him_ but she wanted to deny it, to deny the feelings that were growing deep inside the roots of her heart. She had been friends with him for a while, just talking and laughing and joking around and _just being friends_—but then as days passed, the butterflies in her stomach began to flutter, her whole face would go hot with just a single thought of him, and her heart would race whenever they were together.

But she pushed them away. She lied to herself, telling herself that _no, there was no way she could ever have those kinds of feelings for him _because she was satisfied with just being his friend. It didn't help her case that he wanted her to _kiss him on the lips. __**DOES HE NOT KNOW THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO NOT LIKE HIM? **_

"...Sakura-san?"

There was conflict in those emerald eyes of her's. _No, she shouldn't kiss him because she didn't want to escalate those feelings for him. Yes, she should kiss him because he was willing to let her do so and it was what she wanted. No, she had morals and kissing him while he was unaware of her feelings for him was pretty much bad. Yes, because HE WAS WILLING TO LET HER KISS HIM_ _but it was a selfish move..._Her gaze traveled from the floor and onto his face—handsome and red and waiting for her response.

And then she sighed, her brow knitted in frustration (because here she was, trying her best to _not _fall for him and he's just making it sooooo difficult for her to do so). Shoulders sagging in defeat, she glared at him.

"...if you tell anyone, I'll shave all of your hair off and make you choke on your own hair ball, got it?"

Her glare was deathly, her aura dark, but she really wished she looked intimidating—she probably looked really stupid with that damn blush on her face. _**WHY MUST THE BODY REACT IN WAYS LIKE THIS? STOP. BLUSHING. NOOOOOOOW.**_

It took him a few beats to register what she had said, and when he did, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The look though was quickly wiped off and was replaced with a growing smile which he tried hard to keep down (but failed miserably). He nodded (a bit too eagerly for her tastes), leaning forward and towards the pink-haired girl. "Yes, Sakura-san."

_Please...just don't talk. _

She shot him another glare and told him to shut up and close his eyes. There was nothing she could do to calm the rapid speed her heart was beating in, and swallowed the lump in her throat. _Okay, she was going to do it. It'll be quick like the last one. _Once she made sure he wasn't looking at her, she took a deep breath to calm herself, bit her lip, and shook her head; she needed to remain calm.

It was _nothing, _she'd make sure that the kiss meant nothing (because it didn't really, and it hurt her a bit on the inside but she brushed it off). And so, after taking one more deep breath, she reluctantly pursed her lips and slowly leaned forward, nose scrunched up in horrified anticipation. Her hands—which had found their way to his shoulders—twitched and trembled against his skin. _It means nothing, Sakura, keep it together and_—_oh, god. _

She could _feel _his breath fanning her face, _feel _the heat radiating from his face, practically _feel _his lips—they were probably just _millimeters _away and just _so damn close enought to_—_to_—

_**I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T! **_

She inwardly screamed, her entire face plus the tips of her ears a dark shade of red that contrasted with her bright pink hair. _OH GOD, SHE HAD ALMOST KISSED HIM AND_—she tore her eyes open in hopes of completely stopping herself from following with the original plan of leaving a quick kiss on his stupid cut (a kiss that meant _absolutely nothing _even if she hoped it would be something more) only to come face-to-face with a dreamy-looking Dino, who's cheeks and ears were red and his hands gripping the edge of the bed in anxiety. His lips, she noted, were comically puckered and prepared for her lips while his eyes were shut tight in anticipation.

The medic growled, her hands lifting off of his shoulders and becoming tight, trembling fists at her sides. Her face—she realized with much, much, MUCH disdain—grew warmer. _What the_—_why was he...okay, just what the hell is he puckering up for? WAS HE ACTUALLY GOING TO TAKE PLEASURE IN THIS_? _**I'M GOING TO RIP HIM TO SHREDS!**_

"SHANNARO!"

_And when she didn't know how to react to certain situations, she did the best thing she knew_—she punched him, square in the cheek. He was sent tumbling off the bed with a surprised yelp as soon as her fist came in contact with his skin, a loud SMACK! resounding in the room for the second time that day. The third SMACK! was heard when his whole backside made friends with the tile floor.

She screamed, face red with embarrassment and rage as she pointed an accusing finger in his direction, "PERVERT! Don't you ever ask me to kiss your stupid boo-boo's again, you wuss!"

And with that, she huffed and stormed out of the infirmary with her face red to her roots and her hands tightly balled at her sides.

* * *

><p>As the sounds of Sakura's footsteps grew farther and farther away, Dino stared up at the ceiling with his chocolate brown eyes dazed and his lips twitched up into a stupid smile, completely oblivious to the stinging sensation of his cheek. His hand slowly came to his face and lightly traced his lips (where she had almost <em>kissed <em>him, he might add), his smile growing bigger before letting his arms drop to his sides limply.

"She almost kissed me..." A sigh escaped his lips as he melted into the cold floor of the imfirmary.

He was sure he could die a happy man now—his feelings (stronger than friendship...maybe...could it be..._the 'L' word?_) for Sakura Haruno were not short lived, as he had fancied her for quite a while now but was too shy and too awkward to actually make a move on her (because she probably thought they were _just _close friends, nothing more, nothing less—he sould be worried though, she probably thought he was a pervert now).

Sure, it wasn't a kiss (yet), but it'd have to do, especially when it was coming from a stubborn and short-tempered girl such as Sakura Haruno—that was the closest he'd get to one (for now). With that last thought, he closed his eyes and let the pain numb away into the dark abyss called sleep.

Hopefully she'd come back and treat his wounds again while he was sleeping.

* * *

><p><em>As requested by slw923~<em>

_I'm so rusty. -sigh- Apologies for the lack of updates._

_Although...there's just something that doesn't feel right with it...(I'm pretty sure it's the characterization though...)_

_AUGFSDFG I'm so rusty SORRY ;-;_

I do not own KHR or Naruto—I simply make fanfiction for them.


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